by Bree Verity
“I believe we shall all endure,” replied Theo, “because there are no circumstances, Ponsonby, that I can see where I will be handing Caroline’s mother back over to your dubious care, nor any more money over to you at any time. I didn’t do it when you tried to hide a brokers fee in the marriage contract, and I am not about to do it now. We may be family, Ponsonby, but that does not mean that I am the answer to all of your prayers.”
The shorter man’s face had reddened at Theo’s rebuke, and a snarl had crossed his usually schooled features.
“I always knew you thought yourself above the rest of us, Longshore,” he spat, all trace of congeniality lost, “with your purchased title and your filthy, new money.”
“Better new money than no money.”
“I can hurt you, you know. I have friends, and means. I can hurt Caroline.”
At mention of his wife’s name, Theo felt the rage boil through his bones. He gathered the man’s shirtfront in his fist, bringing him up on to his toes and speaking directly into his beetroot face. “If you ever lay a finger on Caroline, or her mother, I shall have you transported, Ponsonby. And I do not make idle threats.”
“You will lose, Longshore. This time, you will lose.”
Theo was a little unnerved by the steely glint in the old man’s eyes. He pushed him away, straightening his own coat as he did. “Get out, old man. I would have no compunction in throwing you out of my house, however to save Caroline’s finer feelings and those of her mother, I shall not do it. So long as you leave right now. And do not return.”
The two men stared at each other for a long moment, and Theo thought Ponsonby might call his bluff. Not that he was bluffing. He would call Harris and Benton and between the three of them, they would send Uncle Harold on his way with a swift kick up the behind.
Unfortunately, right at that moment, Caroline and her mother re-entered the parlor, giving Ponsonby an undeserved reprieve. Theo watched his snarl instantly transform into a genial smile, the color recede from his features, the tension leave his shoulders. Unfortunately, Theo was not able to hide his chagrin quite as easily, and he noticed Caroline’s questioning gaze upon him. He gave a tiny shake of his head, and to his relief, she turned away without asking any further questions.
* * *
Caroline forced the smile back to her face.
“Mama is quite enraptured by her chamber, Sir Theodore.” Beside her, Mrs. Cheswick stood quite still, her rag doll in her hands, but her eyes moving all over the room. Caroline knew to give her a little space, to allow her to take in the changes around her.
She felt the warmth as Sir Theodore came to stand beside her. Of course he knew that Caroline’s mother had a brain injury, but Caroline was not certain he had come to understand exactly how it affected her mother’s day-to-day life.
“Mrs. Cheswick, I am very glad your room is to your liking,” he said gravely with a nod of his head. “If there is ever anything you wish to change, be sure to see Caroline or myself about it.”
Caroline’s mother’s eyes sat on Sir Theodore briefly before returning to her scan of the room.
There was a long moment of silence, and Caroline wondered what foolish thing Uncle Harold had done. With a sigh she took her mother gently by the arm. “Come, Mama, you can choose a comfortable chair all for yourself.”
A gleam of interest entered Mrs. Cheswick’s eyes, and she walked easily with Caroline into the room, past both of the gentlemen. Caroline and the two men watched in silence as she carefully surveyed each of the available chairs, wandering past each possibility slowly, as if measuring its appropriateness. She stopped in front of one of the blue winged chairs by the fireplace for a moment, but apparently decided against it, because she continued on, to a floral chaise by the window where she gently placed her rag doll.
Caroline smiled. “Wonderful choice, Mama. You shall be able to see all the comings and goings on the street, and let us know when visitors are coming up the steps.” She was rewarded with a shy smile from her mother.
“It is very light,” she said slowly.
“Yes,” agreed Caroline, “Much lighter than Uncle Harold’s front parlor?”
“Well, that is only to be expected, do you not think, when my street is so much narrower?” Uncle Harold said with undue jocularity, coming forward and looking around, rubbing his hands together. “I say, this room is deuced attractive. And spacious. Landed on your feet here, aye Caro?”
Caroline winced. She did not like to say that she disliked her uncle, but she made a point of avoiding him in the years that she and her mother had stayed at his home. Not that he was unpleasant or made things uncomfortable, he just had a way about him that irked her somehow. Sometimes she felt like a bad person - after all, Uncle Harold had invited them to live with him when Papa had died, and Caroline was secretly and guiltily glad to have shared the responsibility of caring for her mother.
“I should prefer to say that Caroline makes the room even more attractive,” Sir Theodore said gravely, and Caroline blushed furiously under her uncle’s too knowing grin.
“Quite so,” he replied. “She is a beauty, that’s for sure.”
Fine teeth, excellent hocks…
“Shall I call for tea?”
“No, not for me,” said her uncle. “I’m off to the club. Just popped in to make sure everything was comfortable for Celina.” He looked over at his sister, who was making herself comfortable on the chaise, chattering away to her rag doll. “She seems to be settling in nicely.”
“That she does.” Caroline took a breath. “Uncle, I have to thank you for your solicitousness over the past few years. I do not know what we should have done without your kindness…”
“Nonsense,” he replied. “Only did what any decent brother would have done for his sister.”
Caroline gave a tight smile. “And of course you know you are welcome to visit Mama here anytime.”
“And so I shall.” He smiled widely and Caroline held back a shudder. Sir Theodore put an arm around her shoulders and she jumped, just a little.
“Don’t let us keep you from your club, Ponsonby,” he said evenly, though with an appreciable amount of steel in his voice. Caroline liked him even better.
“No, I shall not. Appointments to keep, you know. Goodbye Celina!”
From her place on the chaise Caroline’s mother gave a distracted wave.
“Goodbye, Caroline.” Uncle Harold stepped forward as if to kiss her on the cheek and, horrified, Caroline pushed out a hand for him to shake.
“Goodbye, Uncle,” she said. “And thank you again.”
Uncle Harold beamed, and shook Caroline's hand, as well as Sir Theodore’s before turning and leaving the room.
Caroline let out a breath she didn’t even know she had been holding, then flushed as she realized Sir Theodore was watching her closely.
“He has been exceptionally good to my mother,” she said.
Sir Theodore nodded but said nothing.
“And it was kind of him to take us in when Papa died.”
She felt his hazel gaze burning into her and she knew he wanted her to confide in him her disquiet when it came to her uncle. But she couldn’t. Not yet. She didn’t trust him sufficiently yet. And really, there was nothing to tell. There was nothing wrong with Uncle Harold. He was a genial, friendly man.
With a vacuous smile to Sir Theodore, Caroline turned toward her mother.
“So, what shall we do Mama? Did you bring your embroidery?”
Chapter Seven.
The following evening, Theo sauntered into his club and immediately felt at peace with the world. The club was a man’s domain - the lower half of the walls were clad in rich, deep timbers, and large Ottoman carpets provided marked out spaces for enclaves of heavy leather furniture to be grouped together. The club did not cater for those who wished to dine, the room beyond the main one that Theo stood in was a gaming hall, and to the right a double door led to a large library of reference volumes - handy
if one wanted to conclude an argument or win a bet with a specific fact.
Theo breathed in the perfume of the room - brandy, pipe smoke and the piquant manly scent of many bodies filled his senses. He almost grinned.
The comparison was his home, which had started to feel like a woman’s domain. Not that he was averse to that happening - in fact, he expected and welcomed it. Over time he knew it would become a haven from the outside world. But right now, Theo felt a little stifled there and agitated - and all the more so because he had not had opportunity to go beyond the kiss that he and Caroline had shared.
The previous night, Caroline had asked him if she could be permitted to sleep with her mother, to make sure she was comfortable in her new surroundings. Knowing of Mrs. Cheswick’s fragile health, he could do nothing but politely accede to his wife’s wishes while secretly gnashing his teeth and thinking ill thoughts about Uncle Harold’s duplicitousness.
Making his way into the room, Theo searched for his friends. To the left at the rear of the large room he saw Freddie seated with two other gentlemen. With a smile, he made his way over to them.
Before he could get halfway to them, he felt a hand on his elbow and glanced down to see who it was. His smile died away when he realized it was Caroline’s Uncle Harold.
“Good evening Ponsonby,” he said evenly.
“Sir Theodore, it is good to see you,” Harold said, his voice silky. “I just wanted to clear up any misunderstanding that might have occurred between us yesterday, dear boy. After all, we cannot afford to be at odds.”
Theo looked into his eyes and wished nothing more than to shake the man’s hand off his sleeve and ignore him. But he could not. Ponsonby was, for better or worse, family. And apart from that, Theo had no desire to be a talking point amongst his acquaintances, which he would definitely become if Ponsonby caused a scene.
“Simply do not ask me for money, and we shall all get along fine,” he replied quietly and purposefully.
“Yes, I did deduce that to be the problem.”
“Very omniscient of you.” Theo could not keep the ice from his tone.
Tonight, Harold looked the part of a well-to-do gentleman - his clothing was stylish if not fashionable, and he wore long sideburns and a beard that were trimmed neatly, although grey. But there was something in his eyes - something reptilian that had always bothered Theo a little. As if he was sizing up everyone he saw. He and Freddie had shared one investment with Ponsonby, maybe a year or two ago now, and Theo had decided that he did not wish to do any more business with the man.
He had a sudden thought; perhaps Ponsonby assumed that by marrying into Theo’s family, Theo might be a little less tight-fisted with his capital. But it would be a cold day in hell before he joined again with this man in business. His practices were shoddy and just teetered on the correct side of the law, he treated his people poorly, and the whole investment had not resulted in profit enough to excuse the means by which it was arrived at. It would be a foolhardy man who would take a second chance.
The silence between them lengthened, and Theo said, “If you’ll excuse me, I have friends waiting for me.”
It was not exactly the truth - Freddie and his companions did not know that he had been approaching them. Still, he would say just about anything to get away from the calculating gaze of Harold Ponsonby.
“Of course. Do take good care of yourself.”
Theo bowed and then turned away to stride toward Freddie, feeling his wife’s uncle’s eyes boring into his back the whole way. Arriving by his friend’s side, he plopped down into the chair beside Freddie, frowning.
“Why Theo. We didn’t expect to see you today,” said Freddie cordially. “You know Lord Ridgely and Lord Edenburgh of course?”
Theo nodded greetings to the two gentlemen. Both of them were regular acquaintances of his. He indicated for the butler to approach, and ordered a brandy.
As the butler left, Freddie eyed Theo askew and said, “Are you a little out of sorts, my friend?”
Freddie was far too perceptive for his own good. Theo sighed.
“My wife slept with her mother last night.”
The other gentlemen laughed, a little too heartily for Theo’s liking.
“Already? My friend, you must have done something dreadfully wrong to drive her from the marriage bed on the second day. You did not scowl at her with that face, did you?”
“It was hardly possible to drive her from the marriage bed when she has not even entered it.”
“You must just about be ready to jump out of your skin,” said Lord Edenburgh, a chubby, good-natured man who Theo liked immensely.
“I rather thought you meant to throttle somebody,” Freddie remarked. “You looked so furious just now.”
Theo laughed, a little harshly. “Oh, no, that was for my new uncle. He just accosted me to ask after my health,” he said.
“You did not appreciate the question?”
“I do not appreciate the man.”
Theo’s companions laughed softly.
“He is certainly not someone I would like to call a friend,” remarked Lord Ridgely. “Awfully cavey, if you ask me.”
“We’ve already been burned by him once,” agreed Freddie. “And if I remember correctly, you declared we would never truck with him again, Theo.”
Theo nodded. “The man cannot be trusted,” he said, still scowling. “And his solicitousness feels like a snake trying to caress me.”
“Maybe he is trying to be kind, since you are family now.” Lord Edenburgh put down his pipe and picked up his glass. Theo smiled. It was just like Quincey to try to see the best in a person. “I wish it were true, Quincey.”
“Well, he did take his sister and her daughter in when Sir Phillip died,” mused Lord Ridgely. “There must be some kindness in that, surely. I mean, he could just as easily have left them to their own fate.”
“And what a fate it would be,” remarked Freddie dryly. “A quarter million unencumbered capital between them.”
“And that girl with her head for numbers,” agreed Lord Ridgely. “She and her mother could have lived like queens without Ponsonby’s assistance.”
“I get the feeling the assistance might have run the other way,” said Theo thoughtfully. “I suspect Caroline and her mother brought more money into the household than that which they spent.”
“It is a little distasteful, is it not?” said Lord Edenburgh. “To use one’s female relatives to feather one’s own nest?”
Freddie snorted. “You have never been in the position where your own income was insufficient for your needs, Quincey.”
“Neither have you,” Quincey pointed out.
“None of us here have,” said Lord Ridgely, “and I have to admit, I have no desire to put myself in that position either.”
The four friends pondered the thought as the butler re-appeared with Theo’s brandy. He took the glass and offered a solemn toast.
“To our constant lack of penury,” he said, and his three friends clinked their glasses against his, murmuring their agreement.
Even as he drank deeply, Theo still felt the prickle at the back of his neck as if Ponsonby was watching him.
“So?” said Freddie, patting Theo on the knee and bringing him out of his reverie. “Are you planning an assault upon the virtues of your wife tonight?”
Theo remonstrated. “Could you be a little less crude about it, Freddie?” he complained.
“I could,” Freddie agreed, a wicked twinkle in his eye. “But the question still remains. What are you doing here when you could be in her company right now?”
“It is a fair question,” agreed Quincey. “When I was first married, you could barely prise me apart from my wife.”
“Well if you must know, I needed a little diversion away from the beautification of my household,” Theo said. “With daughter and mother and housekeeper all twittering over every piece of linen and every scrap of lace in the place, I was almost ready to run screaming
.”
Freddie patted his hand. “Poor Theo,” he said insincerely. Theo noticed the others, too, were looking at him without pity.
“And my wife wants to be involved in our finances.”
“So?”
“So? I do not wish my wife to be gallivanting all over the ‘Change.”
“Why ever not? She is known to have skill at speculation.” Lord Ridgely seemed genuinely perturbed.
“Would you like to see your wife there?”
Lord Edenburgh worried his lower lip with his teeth. “It is one of those new age questions, is it not? I, for one, would not like to see Felicity involved, but if she insisted…”
“You would capitulate?”
“Women these days are significantly better educated than their mothers and grandmothers,” replied Quincey. “If she was interested and showed a capacity, well, I am not certain I could say no.”
“My wife would nag until I said yes,” Lord Ridgely grumbled. “I should get no peace until I complied.”
“Complied? Why would you not just tell her no?”
Lords Edenburgh and Ridgely looked at Theo with pity.
“My dear fellow, you do not really believe that you will tell her no and that will be the end of it?” Quincey said. “Women have been devising ways of circumventing our will for centuries. And they are deuced good at it too.”
“So, I am just to give in to whatever little foibles she asks for?”
Lord Ridgely looked pensive for a moment. “Choose your battles wisely,” he recommended. “The women are reading pamphlets and booklets about education and emancipation. You do not want a household where there is no peace.”
“Fantastic.” Theo was gloomy. “My choices are to let my wife run rampant over me and grant her every smallest desire, or have her squawking like a fishwife in my ear for the rest of my days?”
“More or less,” agreed Quincey cheerfully. Theo threw him a disgusted look.
Freddie laughed. “Just go home, for goodness sake, Theo. Enjoy the company of your wife. Forget about the rest of it. You’re a dreadful drain on the humor of the room in the mood you are in.”
